In a commercial food environment, it is often important to prepare items as quickly as possible. This objective runs counter to the mandate that all food preparation devices remain as sanitary as possible. That is, in the rush to deliver an item to a customer, it is possible that best practices regarding sanitation are not observed. It is also understood that human error increases as a person more quickly repeats a repetitive task. In other words, the person preparing the food or drink may “get sloppy” as the food or drink preparation is accelerated.
A conventional blender requires that the food/drink components are separately loaded into a blender jar. The jar is closed and placed on a blender base. The machine is activated to blend the contents, which are then placed into another receptacle. The blender and/or blender base is cleaned between consecutive blending operations.
Other commercial food preparation and drink delivery units include drink and ice dispensers and mixers for frozen drinks or confections. Drink and ice dispensers can be manually operated by a customer, as found in many ‘fast food’ establishments, or they can include the automated filling of various cup sizes.
Commercial mixers for frozen drinks or confections typically involve a user (i.e., employee) loading a metal cup with the beverage ingredients onto a machine. The cup is positioned so that a mixing blade is located in the cup. The user then activates the machine in order to spin the blade. In this conventional machine, it is possible to remove the cup while the mixing blade is still spinning, which results in the beverage/confection splashing onto the machine and/or user. To achieve a more even mix, a user may also manually move the cup up-and-down during the mix cycle. However, this practice increases the chances that the beverage or confection will splash out of the cup. Basically, the operation becomes less sanitary and less safe as the operator attempts to more quickly complete the task. The mixed material must be transferred to another receptacle.
Machines for automatically accomplishing the mixing operation have also been envisioned. For the automated units, there is still the question of cleaning the blade and apparatus used in the mixing operation. It is important that a flavor from one mix cycle does not contaminate the next mix cycle, which might be for a different flavor. In addition, the drink or confection must be cleaned from the machine regularly to avoid build up and contamination on the machine. It is thought that the operation of known automated machines is relatively slow and complex.
There remains a need for an apparatus for mixing consumable material in-cup, and a method of operating the same, that is fast, effective, safe, clean, and easy to operate. An automated mix in-cup apparatus and the method of operating the same as disclosed below addresses at least one of these or other needs.